Buyer's guide

How to choose a loyalty program for your business

Criteria, checklist and an honest comparison for cafes, shops, pharmacies and services

There are dozens of loyalty services and almost all promise to bring customers back. The difference is in details you only see in practice. Here are the criteria to choose by and a comparison of the main approaches.

In shortA good loyalty program launches in a day, sends free WhatsApp notifications instead of costly SMS, wins back leaving customers on its own, and brings new ones through cross-marketing. Without these four things you just get a points card.

7 criteria to choose by

Launch speed. A day, not months of integration.
Communication channel. Free WhatsApp notifications instead of paid SMS save real money and get higher open rates.
Retention (churn radar). The system should find at-risk customers and bring them back, not just collect points.
Cross-marketing. The ability to gain new customers from neighbouring businesses with no ad spend.
POS integration. Works with your cash register and CRM (iiko, r_keeper, 1C, Poster), or you key data in by hand.
Onboarding support. Best when the vendor sets things up for you.
Analytics. RFM segments, ROI by channel, customer profiles.

Bonuses or discounts

A discount is a one-off benefit that cuts every receipt and does not tie the customer. Bonuses return to the account, give a reason to come back, and build a base of contacts. For retention bonuses almost always win. Discounts only make sense for quickly clearing stock.

WhatsApp or SMS

SMS keeps getting more expensive and open rates fall. WhatsApp notifications about bonus credits, greetings and reminders are free or far cheaper, are read more often, and feel like a personal message rather than spam.

Comparison of approaches

Criterion	Discounts / SMS	Basic points card	Loyalty platform (Sagi)
Launch	fast, but no base	days to weeks	1 day
Notifications	paid SMS	often none	free WhatsApp
Win back leavers	none	manual	automatic (churn radar)
New customers	ads only	none	cross-marketing
Support	none	rarely	set up for you

How to decide

Write down your goals: bring back people who stopped coming, raise the average receipt, gain new customers without ads. Then check each platform against the 7 criteria above. A service that covers retention, free WhatsApp notifications and cross-marketing pays back faster than a plain points card.

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FAQ

Bonuses or discounts for offline business?

For retention, bonuses are better: they bring the customer back and build a base. A discount cuts every receipt and does not tie the buyer. Discounts only make sense for clearing stock quickly.

Why are WhatsApp campaigns cheaper than SMS?

WhatsApp notifications and reminders are free or far cheaper than SMS, with higher open rates, which lowers the cost of retaining a customer.

What should I look at when choosing a platform?

Launch speed, free WhatsApp notifications, automatic win-back of leaving customers (churn radar), cross-marketing, POS integration and onboarding support.